Archive for the ‘mystery’ Tag
Hollow Spaces, the title of Victor Suthammanont’s debut novel, refers to the emptiness created by emotions such as grief, anger and at times even love.
It’s been 30 years since Brennan and Hunter Lo’s father, John, was acquitted of murdering his lover, they were young children. Yet, for the last 30 years, the unresolved question of whether he was actually guilty or not has divided them.
Brennan only saw the good in her father while Hunter saw only the bad. Their mother, who was betrayed by her husband’s infidelity, did little to help either of her children work through their feelings. Instead, the siblings, who had rarely gotten along, decide to look for the answers to determine whether John was guilty of murder or not. Agreed is the concession that one will acknowledge the other was right all along.
Many witnesses are no longer alive and old police records not easily accessible. Still, they embark on their own private investigation. Brennan’s an attorney; Hunter is a journalist. They’re both adept at research.
Along the way, they receive threats from unknown sources to quit pursuing their search. This makes them suspect they’re on to something.
The narrative is fast paced and characters are well developed, if not always likeable. Brennan comes across as condescending and Hunter is arrogant. Nonetheless, their efforts to know more about the circumstances that tore their family apart all those years ago are intriguing and compelling. In the process they discover they have more in common than once believed.
Hollow Spaces
Three-and-three-quarters Bookmarks
Counterpoint, 2025
374 pages, includes acknowledgements
Claire Leslie Hall’s novel, Broken Country, is a study in class differences, miscommunication and reignited emotions, primarily love and guilt.
When Gabriel Wolfe reappears in Beth Johnson’s life years after their brief, but intense love affair ended, not only is her life uprooted, but so is everyone else’s in the small, rural English village (their country) where they live.
Despite the tragedy of losing their young son in an accident, Beth and Frank Johnson have a strong, seemingly healthy marriage. They work the family farm with Jimmy, Frank’s younger brother and they’re well-respected in their community. Gabriel is a well-known author from an affluent background who’s returned to his family’s estate with Leo, his young son in tow. He’s the same age as Beth’s son at the time he died.
Yes, this is a love story, but there is also an element of mystery. The character-driven plot is rich with descriptive images of the rural landscape and the deep-seeded emotions of Beth, in particular. This makes it more her story with the others as supporting actors. Nonetheless, each one is richly nuanced.
The narrative randomly alternates among the past, present and future. This serves not only to inform the reader about previous and existing relationships, but also hints at some of what’s to come. Thus, there’s much that is predictable here, particularly that Gabriel and Beth will once again be drawn to each. Fortunately, there is at least one major surprise that is bound to keep readers engaged.
Broken Country
Four bookmarks
Simon and Schuster, 2025
307 pages
After reading The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, I wanted to read more in the series of the same name. The Man Who Died Twice is the second of five that follow the crime solving escapades of Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim, septuagenarian residents of an upscale retirement complex in rural England.
The format is the same as the introductory novel. Chapters alternate between those written in third person voice and those told from Joyce’s perspective. Joyce is the character with heart, who sees the good in people. She’s a good foil to the hardened Elizabeth, a former M15 spy. There are also two plot lines.
One involves nabbing the young thug who mugged Ibrahim; the second is more complex because it brings Elizabeth’s past into the limelight. He ex-husband, also a spy, is accused of stealing diamonds from a man with connections to various worldwide crime organizations.
There’s plenty of humor, intrigue and even a little romance. Osman’s characters are intelligent and caring. This includes the two local police officers they befriended, and often irritated, in the first book. The writing is sharp and engaging as the author provides more insight into the characters’ histories. After all, who knew Elizabeth had an ex?! That isn’t all that’s revealed about their pasts.
Of course, there’s a murder to solve, perhaps even two. This, and efforts to bring Ibrahim’s perpetrator to justice, keep the foursome busy, the police wondering and some of the bad guys unaware of what awaits them.
The Man Who Died Twice
Four Bookmarks
Pamela Dorman Books, 2021
368 pages
Fun and clever are the best ways to describe Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia.
Tuesday is a 30-something researcher for a large Boston hospital; her job is to find potential high dollar donors. She’s a loner. Her only friends are Dex and Abby, her childhood best friend, who disappeared when they girls were 16.
Abby’s body was never found; through the years she pleads with Mooney to find her killer. Bold font serves as Abby’s voice, but only Tuesday (and the reader) know it. She never reveals the presence of Abby’s ghost. This is the parallel story to the engaging narrative involving the aptly named Vincent Pryce.
Yes, it’s far-fetched, but lean into it.
Although Pryce, a kind, eccentric billionaire, dies at a hospital fundraising event early in the novel, his presence is always close. His death makes the news, but what really creates the headlines is his bequest to the city: a treasure hunt for some of his fortune with numerous clues, including several references to Edgar Allan Poe.
Soon Tuesday’s circle expands to include Dorry, her teenage neighbor, and Edgar Allan Arches Jr., aka Archie, youngest son of the wealthy Arches family. Tuesday puts her researching expertise to work solving the clues – along with hundreds of other Bostonians. Of course there’s a villain added to the mix.
The result is a double mystery: how did Archie’s father die and who will find the hidden cache? There’s also a bit of romance and a lot of humor.
Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts
Four bookmarks
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019
359 pages
Sarah and Adam Morgan have been married for 10 years. She’s a successful Washington, D.C., defense attorney; he’s a struggling writer. While professing their love to each other, it’s clear not everything is ideal. She works too much, often missing commitments made to Adam. He’s often on his own. So much, in fact, he’s having an affair. Sarah learns about Adam’s infidelity after he’s accused of murdering his paramour.
Author Jeneva Rose’s The Perfect Marriage has an abundance of twists and turns; in fact, there are too many. There are plenty of obvious suspects besides Adam; there are also characters who suddenly become suspects. The latter really weren’t necessary to add to the mix, but there they are.
Rose also requires her readers to suspend a lot of disbelief. First, Sarah insists on representing her husband. The likelihood of this being allowed is too slim to fathom. Then there’s Adam’s mother who worms herself into situations that also would be unacceptable in criminal cases. The most egregious element of all is the manipulation of the reader’s trust.
Initially, Rose’s characters, particularly Sarah and Adam, are sympathetically portrayed. It’s difficult not to root for them, even though they are far from perfect. Yet, Adam’s imperfections are the most detailed, so at some point it’s easy to wonder what Sarah sees in him.
The relationships with other characters, including the investigating officers, Sarah’s personal assistant and Sarah’s office nemesis all play into the blindsiding outcome.
The strikeout in the word perfect is intentional.
The Perfect Marriage
Three bookmarks
Blackstone Publishing, 2024
375 pages
In The God of the Woods author Liz Moore crafts a fast-paced, engaging mystery that addresses long-held family secrets and the bonds they stretch.
The novel deftly moves between two decades, primarily 1961 and 1975. One August morning of that latter year, at Camp Emerson in rural upstate New York, Barbara, a camper, is discovered missing. What ensues is a search involving local and state authorities.
Although it shouldn’t matter, there’s additional intensity involved in finding the girl: she’s the daughter of the camp’s owner; she’s also the sister of the young boy who disappeared from the same area long ago. The boy’s body was never found creating double intrigue.
Moore’s narrative includes the parents’ histories, how the camp came to exist, vivid descriptions of the environs and several distinct, interesting and strong females. Chief among them are Barbara’s camp counselor, the camp director and a female investigator on her first case. Barbara’s character is also well developed. She comes across as a self-assured teen whose parents give her little attention and is in the shadow of her brother who went missing years before she was born.
Barbara’s family is wealthy and demanding; she’s viewed by her parents, particularly her overbearing father, as a trouble maker. Her mother is easily dismissed by those around her; she’s lost in grief and dependent on pills and alcohol.
There are plenty of theories and possible suspects in both missing persons’ cases, which adds to the whodunit. Yet, Moore’s playbook is far from formulaic.
The God of the Woods
Four Bookmarks
Riverhead Books, 2024
478 pages
Fortune Favors the Dead by Stephen Spotswood blends 1940s noir with humor thanks to its New York City setting and irreverent narrator, Will – short for Willowjean.
Will ran away as a teen and joined the circus becoming an adept knife-throwing performer. Her skills saved the life of Lilian Pentecost, a successful private investigator with a recent multiple sclerosis diagnosis, caught in a dangerous situation.
Soon, Will has left the circus and is working as Lilian’s personal assistant, which results in a dramatic lifestyle change for the younger woman. In addition to a salary and training, Will gets room, board and new kinds of adventures as she hones her own investigative skills
Three years after taking Will under her wing, Lilian is hired to solve a high profile case, one involving the murder of Abigail Collins, matriarch of a wealthy family. Of course, there are plenty of suspects to go around including Harrison Wallace, CEO of Collins Steelworks, and Abigail’s psychic friend. Becca and Randolph, Abigail’s adult children, also contribute to the intrigue, as do some employees of the wealthy family.
Lilian’s experience is evident in her calm, deliberate approach. Will’s role involves research and interviewing possible suspects; however, she’s also inclined to follow her gut, which doesn’t always have good results.
Clandestine relationships and other secrets keep the detectives on the alert. There’s even a bit of romance between Will and Becca. Spotswood has crafted a fast-paced who-dunnit with entertaining characters. Plus, Will’s sardonic humor makes it a fun read.
Fortune Favors the Dead
Four Bookmarks
Doubleday, 2020
321 pages
Even after reading 19 books featuring Inspector Armand Gamache, his investigative team and the quirky residents of Three Pines, none of it gets old. Louise Penny continues to keep the magic and intrigue going strong in her latest, The Grey Wolf.
Repeated phone calls, which Gamache refuses to answer, interrupt an otherwise peaceful, late summer morning. This is only the beginning of disturbances that threaten to go beyond his quiet village. He soon discovers the entire Quebec province is at risk.
Through a series of seemingly unrelated events such as a stolen coat, a cryptic note and, of course, a murder lead Gamache, Jean-Guy and Isabel LaCoste to far reaching locales in order to avert a national catastrophe. This includes revisiting characters and places from previous novels (investigations), such as the remote Gilbertine monastery.
Gamache suspects colleagues and a self-serving politician with an axe to grind against him are involved.
While the potential danger moves the narrative forward, the novel is rich with descriptions of the recurring people and places readers have come to know. Subtle humor and meaningful relationships remain hallmarks of the Gamache series.
In thinking about the appeal of the series, Louise Penny sums it up best in the book’s acknowledgements: “The Gamache books are proudly crime novels … but at their core they’re about community. Acceptance. Belonging. Courage. … About trying to do better.” After all, who doesn’t want to read about such attributes, especially when there’s good writing, engaging characters and a murder to solve?!
The Grey Wolf
Four Bookmarks
Minotaur Books, 2024
419, includes acknowledgements
In 1942 Japanese Americans were forced to relocate to ten remote isolation camps under the guise of protecting the U.S. This is the foundation for Tallgrass, Sandra Dallas’s fictional portrayal of a small Eastern Colorado town that became home to an internment camp.
Tallgrass was published in 2007 yet remains timely in its illustration of unfounded prejudice and ill-conceived fear of those who are different.
Renny is the youngest daughter of a beet-farming family, whose property is near Tallgrass. Initially, the young teen doesn’t know what to think of the Japanese since there’s a clear division in town among those who think the idea of the camp is shameful and those adamantly opposed to its presence. The negative attitudes are fortified when a young girl is found raped and murdered. Guilt is immediately assigned to the Japanese.
Due to the war, finding farm laborers proves difficult, so Renny’s father hires three young Japanese men who prove to be hard workers and serve to dispel the misgivings held by Renny and her mother.
Dallas has crafted an engaging narrative proving that evil is not defined by one’s ethnicity or skin color. However, in her portrayal of some characters, there is little gray area. Still, as Renny’s family grows closer to the Japanese workers, she matures and is ultimately able to form her own opinions.
While there’s much that is predictable, the mystery of the murder, family secrets and a view of the hardscrabble life of farmers contribute to the well-paced novel.
Tallgrass
Four bookmarks
305 pages plus Reader’s Guide
St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007
The title alone gives away that this is a mystery with trust issues. First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston follows Evelyn “Evie” Porter on a secret assignment to get romantically involved with Ryan Sumner.
It’s soon evident that Evie isn’t who she says she is; parts of her backstory are interspersed with the mysteries at hand: who is Ryan, why is it necessary to know him, and more, importantly, who is the elusive, enigmatic “Mr. Smith”?
It’s no spoiler to reveal Evie, is aka Lucca Marino, who explains that Smith is the person who clandestinely hires her and pays her handsomely to get the dirt on people. Consequently, Evie moves from location to location, mostly in the South, with different identities, looks and ways of ingratiating herself into her targets’ lives.
The problem Evie encounters with Ryan is that she finds herself actually falling in love with him. Yet, she knows there’s a lot he’s hiding from her. Of course, everyone has their secrets but in this case, there are a lot to keep track of!
Evie, a smart, engaging character, and Devon, the assistant she’s secretly hired to help her unbeknownst to Smith, make for a strong team. The relationship between Evie and Ryan is credible and one the reader actually roots for.
Elston incorporates a number of plot twists to keep the reader guessing and it mostly works. However, there are so many threads to untangle it often gets a little messy; this serves to break the tension rather than enhance it.
First Lie Wins
Viking, 2024
Three-and-a-half Bookmarks
340 pages
The Blue Page Special 